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Groups disagree over state malpractice 'crisis'; They spar on how statistics document insurance problems of New York's doctors.

New York’s Post-Standard

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Consumer and patient safety activists charged Friday that a medical lobbying group is lying to the public by claiming doctors are fleeing New York because of soaring medical malpractice insurance rates.

At a news conference in Syracuse, representatives of the New York Public Interest Research Group and other consumer groups urged lawmakers to reject proposed caps on malpractice lawsuit awards and support efforts to reduce medical errors.

Blair Horner of NYPIRG said a national medical lobbying group, Doctors for Medical Liability Reform, has launched a massive lobbying campaign aimed at making New Yorkers believe doctors are exiting the state because of what the group claims is a medical malpractice "crisis."

Horner said statistics compiled by the state conference of BlueCross and BlueShield plans shows New York has among the highest number of doctors per capita in the nation, and that New York is seeing faster growth in those numbers than other states.

"In New York we are trying to combat this multimillion dollar spin-doctoring campaign with the facts," Horner said. "The fact is there is no crisis in New York."

Members of NYPIRG, the Center for Justice and Democracy and other consumer groups are traveling around the state in a white bus to spread their message as part of what they call a "patient safety truth tour."

…

"We think the solution is an aggressive program of patient protection so that people don't get hurt in the first place," Horner said.
For a copy of the complete article, contact CJ&D.

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